By jailing the EC three, the Criminal Court has given the country a chance to wipe the slate clean

Thailand's democracy found poetic justice at its most crucial hour when the Criminal Court yesterday convicted three election commissioners of malfeasance in their mishandling of the reruns of the April 2 general election and sentenced them to four years in prison. The refusal by the Criminal Court and the Appeal Court to grant them a temporary release meant they had to spend their time in prison overnight awaiting the Supreme Court's decision on their bail applications, causing them to lose the powerful jobs that they had abused for almost five years.

If the Royal Decree signed by His Majesty the King that set the date for a new general election on October 15 lifted the dark cloud of uncertainty over the much-maligned political situation in this country, the disgraceful exit of election commissioners Vasana Puemlarp, Prinya Nakchudtree and Virachai Naewboonnien offered the best hope that Thai society will be able to create transparent conditions for a free and fair election, purge its political system of corruption, and restore the health of the country's democracy.

Now that the EC trio have been stripped of their positions and made to pay for their crimes, the Supreme Court will take the initiative to nominate 10 short-listed candidates to be vetted by the incumbent Senate, which will then appoint five of them to serve as new election commissioners. Thai society must see to it that those appointed to sit on the new Election Commission are not only well qualified but also have an impeccable track record, unquestioned personal integrity and absolute impartiality. Among the various "independent" agencies mandated by the Constitution, the EC has a crucial role as a gatekeeper, preventing people with a dubious past or record of fraudulent activity from entering politics in the first place. The EC led by Vasana had been held up to ridicule for its conduct and its dismal performance because of its strong bias in favour of - if not outright servility to - Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai Party.

Finding an incorruptible EC to organise a free and fair election is a prerequisite for the dissolution of the protracted political crisis that centres on the questions of Thaksin's loss of political legitimacy, his corruption-prone government, manipulation of democratic institutions and, undermining of civil liberties. The new government that emerges from a clean election relatively free from vote-buying and other instances of electoral fraud will be expected to implement thorough political reforms. These will include constitutional amendments to rid Thailand's democracy of innate flaws and loopholes that have been so expertly exploited by Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai Party with devastating results - in other words, to eliminate Thaksin's ugly legacy.

For the first time in the five-and-a-half years since Thailand's democracy was hijacked by Thaksin Shinawatra and his Thai Rak Thai Party, democracy-loving people in this country were pleasantly surprised to find that they now have a fighting chance to overthrow the despotic regime that had subjected them to ignominious servitude and indignity for so long. But before we go about fixing our democracy, Thai society as a whole must take stock of how it had allowed itself to be manipulated and then betrayed by Thaksin in order to learn the right lessons from this dark episode of democracy.

Let us not forget that Thaksin began his career as a charismatic and hugely popular politician who was catapulted to power in a 2001 landslide on the back of a populist policy platform. He commanded an overwhelming parliamentary majority, and then proceeded to impose a culture of deceit and corruption in the country, characterised by an incestuous relationship between his ruthless quest for absolute political power and his insatiable pursuit of his own self-interest.

By the time enough people woke up to the fact that they had been so cruelly deceived and ignominiously subjugated by Thaksin, it was almost too late. In a way, Thailand's democracy managed to escape yet another one of its darkest episodes by sheer luck.

Even when Thaksin controls the executive and legislative branches of government, and virtually every other key democratic institution has been corrupted or has otherwise failed us, Thai society still has His Majesty who provides guidance and the judiciary, which provides justice as a last resort, to afford our flawed democracy the opportunity to correct itself. The Thai people must use this opportunity well.